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OLEIKAN
OLEIKA SHRINE TEMPLE November / December 2012
Volume 61 Issue 6
OASIS OF LEXINGTON - DESERT OF KENTUCKY

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GEORGE HALL - POTENTATE 2012!

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Thanks to our Potentate George Hall & Lady Mary for a great year!

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ORIENTAL GUIDE!

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Calling all Oleika nobles, ladies and families!! Grab your hats, dust off your boots and come ride with us! Its time for the 2012 Oleika shrine rodeo! November 16&17 doors open at 6pm pre-rodeo events begins at 630pm rodeo at 730pm. General admission is $10.00 pre-sale or $15.00 for a two day pass. $12.00 dollars at the gate! Kids under 10 free!! Nobles its been a great 2012 and an honor to serve as your Oriental Guide and Rodeo Chairman! Lady sherry, Sydney, Bull and I have enjoyed traveling and spending time with the Oleika family. Thank you to all who have supported the rodeo and have volunteered to work the event! As always call me day or night if you need me at 859.221.4429 or email at detbourne@yahoo.com. In faith John Bourne 2012 oriental guide

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My Fellow Nobles,

RECORDERS DESK!

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The end of the year is fast approaching and we have many things to accomplish before New Years. We have our Fall Ceremonial on November 3rd. Please attend to welcome in our new members. On December the 8th, the Christmas Party for the Hospital Children will take place. Clubs and Units; Lady Mary needs toys and donations! Please help with this effort. Breakfast with Santa is also on December 8th. On December 6th we are electing new ofcers. We will not allow you in to vote unless you have a membership card. December 31st is our annual New Years Eve Party. Come out and bring in the new year with your fellow Shriners and their families. Thanks to everyone who helped with the October Gun Show. It was a great money maker and should be a source for income for years to come. Thanks to the Potentate and his staff for the ne food and fellowship shown at the SASA meeting in Myrtle Beach. If I can be of any help, please contact me at the Oleika Shrine Temple ofce. 859-277-6869 Yours in the Faith Chuck Kendrick Recorder

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ORIENTAL BAND!

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My Fellow Bandsmen, Congratulations! We took rst place in our class of bands in Myrtle Beach. What a great time we had spending time with our brothers from Oleika and other Temples. Lets help Lady Mary collect donations and toys for this years Christmas Party for the Hospital Children. We sure hope Brutus Metcalf gets over his sick spell soon and gets back with us. Hurry back brother! We need to get back to our Friday night outings and dinners again soon. Lets pick up the pace bandsmen! Thanks to R.L Trent for a good job this year and remember band elections are coming soon. Please attend as meetings as you can. Yours in the Faith, Chuck Kendrick V.P Oriental Band

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FREEMASONRY IN THE CIVIL WAR

In the years leading up to the Civil War, the United States was divided along political, economic and social lines, far more than we are even today. The slavery question cast its shadow over all the other issues: regional rivalries, trade, development of the countrys natural resources, and settling the West. Important institutions split over the slavery question. For example, the Democratic Party split along regional lines, and the Southern Baptist Church and the Southern Methodist Church were founded. Freemasonry was the one institution that did not suffer a split. The principles of the Craft outweighed all other considerations in the hearts and minds of its members. This story is best told through a selection of vignettes originally written by the great American Masonic student, Allen Roberts. Joseph Fort Newton, D.D., was a leading Masonic writer and teacher, and the author of The Builders. In his autobiography he wrote the following about his introduction to Freemasonry: My father had been a soldier in the Southern armyHe was made a Mason in a military Lodge Taken prisoner at Arkansas Post, he was carried up the Mississippi river to Rock Island, Illinois My father become desperately ill, and made himself known as a Mason to an officer of the camp. The officer took him to his own home and nursed him back to life. When the war ended, he loaned Father money to pay his way back to his Texas home and gave him a pearlhandled pistol to protect himselfThis experience of my father, when I learned about it, had a very great influence upon my life; the fact that such a fraternity of men could exist, mitigating the harshness of war, and remain unbroken when states and churches were torn in two, became a wonder; and it is not strange that I tried for years to repay my debt to it. Dr. Newton became a Master Mason at the age of 21 in Friendship Lodge No. 7, Dixon, Illinois.

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John W. Geary was made a Mason at Sight on January 4, 1847 in Pennsylvania, just before he left with his troops to fight in the Mexican War. When in California, he was stationed in San Francisco, and served as one its first Mayors. He caused the land that became Union Square to be setaside as a park. Geary Street is named for him. During the Civil War, he was the commanding Union general at the fall of Savannah, Georgia. He placed Federal troops about the quarters of Solomons Lodge No. 1 to save it from looting and damage. Later, while Geary was governor of Pennsylvania, the Lodge sent him a resolution of thanks. He answered by claiming it was the principles and tenets of Freemasonry that helped Reconstruction to be as successful as it finally turned out to be. In this reply, he said: I feel again justified in referring to our beloved institution, by saying that to Freemasonry the people of the country are indebted for many mitigations of the suffering caused by the direful passions of war. The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of fighting ever during the bitter Civil War. Over 23,000 men were killed or wounded. During this horrible and bloody battle, numerous instances occurred that showed the enduring nature of Brotherly Love and Relief in times of trouble. On the morning following the battle, Confederate sharpshooters fired at anything that moved. A wounded Confederate handed a Union sentry a piece of cloth on which the Square and Compass was crudely drawn in blood. The sentry carried it to a captain who recognized the Masonic emblem. The captain told the Colonel that a wounded Confederate needed help. The Colonel asked for volunteers and several Masons offered to help. At the risk of their lives they went to and carried the fallen Lieutenant of the Alabama Volunteers to the 5th New Hampshire field hospital. The Lieutenant told them about another Mason lying wounded in the cornfield. Back they went and carried him to join the other enemy soldier. Both men received the same treatment, as did the Federal wounded from the camp surgeon, a Freemason, Dr. William Child. These were men who truly remembered their obligation to never hesitate to go out of their way to raise a fallen Brother.

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Confederate Masons no less than their Union counterparts remembered the obligations of the Craft in the midst of war. The Federal gunboat USS Albatross, under the command of John Hart hurled shell after shell into the village of St. Francisville, Louisiana. Later, the crew sent a small boat under a flag of truce to the shore. The executive officer asked for a Mason. The Senior Warden of Feliciana Lodge No. 31, W. W. Leake, answered the call. When informed that Captain Hart, who was a Freemason, was dead, Brother Leake immediately offered to open his Lodge and bury Hart with Masonic rites. Over the years the United Daughters of the Confederacy kept his grave fresh and green. In 1972 the Grand Lodge of Louisiana replaced the simple headstone with a monument that covered Harts entire grave. The monument was engraved: This monument is dedicated in loving tribute to the universality of Freemasonry. An interesting story of Masonic unity in the face of political conflict occurred in Denver Lodge No. 5. The members appeared to be evenly divided in their affinity for the opposing sides in the war. This appeared to be problem that couldnt be overcome, so the Lodge recommended to the Grand Lodge of Colorado that a charter be granted for the formation of Union Lodge. It was granted. But not a single member of Denver Lodge demitted to affiliate with the new one! They had learned it is not necessary for all Freemasons to think alike to remain friends and Brothers. When Richmond, Virginia, fell to the Union soldiers in April 1865, mobs burned warehouses, blew up ships, and generally set fire to the property along the James River. Masons Hall, built in 1785 was close to this area. The Federal Provost Marshal, A. H. Stevens, a member of Putnam Lodge in Massachusetts, placed a guard around the building, plus the homes of several members of the Lodge. Shortly thereafter, Federal and Confederate members of the Craft met in harmony in the same building.

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Finally, an instance of true friendship extending beyond the barriers of war is that of General Lewis A. Armistead, of Alexandria Washington Lodge No. 22 and Colonel (later General) Henry H. Bingham. General Armistead was among the Confederate generals leading the illfated Picketts Charge storming the hills in the Battle of Gettysburg. General Armistead was mortally wounded when he reached the top of the ridge. Colonel Bingham was sent by General Hancock to assist their Masonic Brother. A monument commissioned and dedicated by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1993 at the National Cemetery Annex at Gettysburg commemorates this selfless act of Brotherly Love. The monument is inscribed simply: Friend to Friend A Brotherhood Undivided. When the shooting war ended, the division between the North and South remained. If anything, the antagonism was more bitter than ever. But it was Freemasonry that was most directly responsible for easing the pangs of hatred. Kindness shown by former foes who were Masons became the links in the chain of unity. These lessons of the past are most important for us to remember. Our Brethren of the Civil War could have been forgiven if they had turned their backs on those in distress but they did not! They helped the Mason and nonMason whenever and wherever they could and were better men and Freemasons for it, and our Fraternity and the world are better because of them. Unfortunately the past is far too often forgotten. Countless people consider freemasonrys First Tenet, Brotherly Love, as just so much sentimentality. Group is fighting group, section is antagonizing section, and competing ideologies and political opinions are running rampant. I will leave you with this challenge: Would you as Masons today act as our Civil War brethren, and put aside political and personal differences for the sake of another Brother known only to you as a Mason? Bruce Master

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HOSPITAL!

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Submitted by Bobby the Lip

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OLEIKA ENGINEERS!

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This Date in History

November 26th
On this date in 1737, a letter to the editor appeared in the New York Gazette newspaper, criticizing the secrecy of Freemasons and the

words of the obligations' penalties (as disclosed in a previous expos of Freemasonry). This appears to have been the first anti-masonic effort in the colonies that became the United States.

Famous Shriner

Abbott, Bud
Comedian Actor, member of Al Malaikah Shriners

December 26th
On this date in 1972, Harry S. Truman, former President of the United States, Past Grand Master of Missouri, and a very active Freemason, died. He had requested a Masonic funeral, but instead the government, which handled the details, permitted a short Masonic ceremony during the funeral service.

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HOSPITAL REPORTS!

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Supporters of the Oleikan 2012

YOUR DONATION BETTERS THE OLEIKAN...

Thanks For Helping Us Grow!

Gene Robinson Claude p.m. Gwen Lessig Teddy Hughes David Hadland Tim Simpson Harold Simpson Joel Lester Fred Pensinger Ralph L Spillman Elizabeth A Spillman Sgt. Lucky Powers John Bourne Sherry Bourne Dennis Gambrell Rob Milward Robert Lee King Gaither Garrett Virgil Hammons Esselene Hammons Bob Orbach Robert Pybas Curtis Reppart Glenn R. George Bob Moody Barry McCaslin Sandy McCaslin Phillis Sutton Alton Hughes Mr. & Mrs. Lex Simmons W.O Bradley Ken R. Anderson Art Kurz Don Dixon Harry Low Wicker Bob Orbach Estill Yates Brutus Metcalf

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OLEIKAN, 326 Southland Drive Lexington, KY 40503 | 859-277-6869 | oleikaneditor@gmail.com

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Our Temple offers many benets. One benet is the opportunity to rent one of our many rooms at a reduced rate. Please take advantage of the pricing available for your next function. For further information, please contact: Dennis Gambrell (Ofce Manager) @ 859-277-6869 or gambrellcontracting@gmail.com

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BLACK CAMEL

"Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate."

Please see the following pages for our Necrology service on Sunday, November 18th at 5 p.m

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OLEIKA SHRINE RODEO 2012!

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OLEIKAN, 326 Southland Drive Lexington, KY 40503 | 859-277-6869 | oleikaneditor@gmail.com

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OLEIKA SHRINE TEMPLE

Volume 61 - Issue 6

OASIS OF LEXINGTON DESERT OF KENTUCKY

November / December 2012

Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine